Does George Pickens Have a Long-Term Future with Steelers?
During a postgame interview on the Netflix broadcast of the Steelers-Chiefs game, Steelers star wide receiver George Pickens went up to Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce to shake their hands. It seemed innocuous, but the interaction got people speculating that Pickens might want out of Pittsburgh.
For sure, it could be a stretch, but Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk thinks there could be something brewing.
“My thought was, he’s saying, ‘Come get me,’” Florio said via video from the NFL on NBC’s YouTube page. “I feel like Pickens has been at that point of, ‘I’ve had enough here’ for a while now. It flashes from time to time. He has visions of what he could do in an offense with a higher end passing game, an offense that throws the ball more than the Steelers do … Think of all the guys who have been problematic at the receiver position that Mike Tomlin has kept under wraps until either the very end or after they’re gone. With Pickens, it’s been fairly consistent the past couple of seasons. But he’s so good that you keep finding a way to try to get the most out of him.
“In that moment yesterday, that made me think that this offseason after he has three seasons in, he’s eligible for a second contract. What are they gonna do at quarterback next year? There’s just a ton of factors that come into that. But I’m starting to think that … Maybe it’s reaching the end of the road for the Steelers and George Pickens.”
Like Terrell Owens, fellow Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe also called Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens out for dogging it on Russell Wilson’s crucial red zone interception in Wednesday’s 29-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs
“Pickens is going to have to stop being so emotional on every play,” Sharpe said on the Nightcap podcast with former Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro wide receiver Chad Johnson. “Every play he doesn’t get the ball, like oh my goodness, oh Lord, have mercy. I know he’s a phenomenal talent, the difficulty of the catches that he makes on a consistent basis, but if he were to channel a lot of that energy, I don’t think he realize just how good he can be. I don’t think he realizes he got special abilities.”
It turns out that Pickens’ route didn’t matter on the interception. Chiefs safety Justin Reid said he was going to pick off Wilson’s ill-advised pass regardless.
“Woulda been the same result. You are correct that I was never concerned with backside WR to begin with,” Reid replied on X to Dan Orlovsky of ESPN.
Florio isn’t the only one who envisions a Pickens departure, former Buffalo Bills general manager and Steelers pro personnel coordinator, Doug Whaley, believes the star wide receiver will ultimately burn his bridges with the Steelers organization and have an Antonio Brown-like exit.
“Everybody knows, it’s going to come to an end very badly,” Whaley said during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan last month. “He is talented and what I call talent is this great seductress. So Medusa is there. And you keep Medusa until it comes to an end just like it did with AB, just like Santonio Holmes. Just keep on running down the list. But I would do it just for right now because you got a window, the defense is hanging on by a thread. You sign Russell for three or four years, keep ’em together ’cause you have a target and a talent. Add some talent, when the other talent you add start to overtake him and he starts to, when his production dips when you can’t tolerate anymore, get rid of him.”
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